Friday, 1 October 2010

Miracle of Life - Casey Zheng Jiakai!!

Today, I must take a blog diversion into my personal life. You see, on Tuesday the 28th September, 2010 at 6:31pm in the evening, an absolute miracle occurred.

It all started around 11:30am while I was in my office at Millenia Tower attending a very important business meeting. While I was right in the middle of negotiations on an important deal, my cell phone began vibrating in my pocket. I was so engrossed in what I was doing, that it didn't immediately dawn on me that the caller could very possibly be my pregnant wife, Sammi, trying to alert me to the fact that our new baby boy was ready to be born.

After some seconds, I stopped mid-sentence and explained to the other meeting attendees that this could be an urgent call that I need to take - I reached for the phone just as it stopped ringing... my suspicions were confirmed when I noticed the missed call was in fact from Sammi. Of course, I immediately called back - after finally being able to hear what she had to say (above all the background noise of some extremely excited parents-in-law and a maid), I politely excused myself from the meeting and ran to collect my coat and personal items before heading down to the carpark to make the trip home and assess the situation for myself.

Upon arrival at my apartment, Sammi was actually quite relaxed eating her lunch - the warning signs of the impending birth did not include any intense labour pains. At around 1:30pm, we collected the pre-packed suitcase and necessary paperwork for the hospital and drove into the Mt Elizabeth Medical Centre to consult with our Gynocologist.

After a quick check in the clinic, we were advised that labour was well underway and in fact the cervix was already dilated to around 3cm (regardless of the fact that painful contractions had still not begun).

Next stop - straight to the delivery suite at Mt Elizabeth Hospital. By this time, we were getting near to 3:00pm in the afternoon - this is when the 'real labour' started. The rest of the process was very rapid. By 6:31pm (just over a few hours later), a baby boy by the name of Casey Zheng Jiakai Breitkreutz emerged looking very healthy and just a little unhappy that we had disturbed him from the comfortable resting place in which he's spent the last nine months.

For anyone that has witnessed the miracle that is childbirth, you will completely understand why the moment reduced me to a complete blubbering mess. How can any father hold back the tears of absolute joy when they witness such a remarkable event as this?

Casey weighed in at a very healthy 3.550kg and measured 50 cm in length.

We spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at Mt Elizabeth Hospital (I was allowed my own bed in our single room, as a 'lodger' and also got to enjoy the hospital food - which included a lovely romantic 'celebratory' dinner for two on the second evening).

We are all back at home now and have adjusted very well to having another 'new born' baby in the apartment. Although we are all a bit sleep-deprived, every waking moment is amazing - I could stand there for hours just looking at our baby sleep. I am still astounded at how powerful and moving this time of life can be!!

I was going to take the opportunity to apologise to all of my readers for such a long absence from blogging, but I cannot bring myself to do so... I am not sorry at all that I have experienced one of the most memorable and joyous moments that any person can participate in.

As an aside, my prayers go out to my dear Dad and Mum... last year my Dad (my inspiration) passed away - the 28th of September was his birthday. Over the last 12-months, life has been pretty tough on my Mum being all alone (although she is incredibly tough and resilient). The fact that Casey was born on the anniversary of Dad's birthday literally brought Mum to tears - I called her in Australia as soon as Casey was born, and she was so moved and emotionally charged that she could hardly even talk. The birth of this, her 14th Grandchild, on such a very special day, is a wonderful gift for her.

Below is a very quick collection of photographs taken on my iPhone on Tuesday... Enjoy!! Life truly is awesome!!